Postcard from Sweden Step 2

Welcome to Step 2 of the Postcard from Sweden Quilt Along!

I am über-excited for this post because I am dying to see just how many of you out there are quilting along; from the Instagram attention and excitement this QAL has been getting, it is going to blow mine and Helen's (Midget Gem Quilts) minds. Be sure to hop over to her blog to check out her quilts. Plural. She's doing one in blues and greens and one in the traditional modern (ha) colours of the original quilt.

Postcard from Sweden and 30 Quilt Designs Updates

One week today marks the start of the Postcard from Sweden QAL! The original post with the dates is here. Are you in? Did you choose your fabric? I know of a few that are making it with prints, others with the solids on hand in their stash, others that have ordered or traded fabric, and still others who have bought kits.

I've made us a button! Feel free to grab it and post it on your blog.

I made this in Canva, and I am pretty tickled with how it turned out! I used the photo of Kelly's (pattern designer) original quilt. 😊 If you could link back to my blog, I would greatly appreciate it.

TGIFF! Postcard from Sweden Finish

Welcome to TGIFF! This is a celebration of finishes, and I'm happy to be back hosting the second one of 2024. I am also very pleased to show off my second finish of 2024, my third Postcard from Sweden quilt.

Like the first two, this one is not going to live with me, and that is just fine. Like the first two, it is on its way to a good home where I know it will be cherished. If you are interested in hosting TGIFF go here to pick a date to sign up. It's super-easy.

PQ 13.1 Postcard Pouch

It 's that time of year again! Project Quilting time that is, the brainchild of Kim of Persimon Dreams, hosted by her good friend Trish  @quiltchicken . The first challenge Trish dreamed up is called 'All the Colours'. As in use 'em all. In my last post I mentioned that I was going to once again host a Postcard from Sweden Quilt Along. Put that with all the colours, add in wanting to make a small gift for my niece, and boom! Postcard Pouch idea was born.

I used the Charm Square pouch tutorial, formerly available on Moda Bakeshop, that I've made at least a dozen times, substituted HSTs for the squares, based it on Kelly's Postcard from Sweden quilt, formerly available on Craftsy, tried Anna's technique at Noodlehead Open Wide pouch and another boom! It all came together beautifully.

Doll Quilt for A Doll Like Me

It's done and ready to mail off!

Such fun!

Before I show you how it came to be and tell you a little more about this wonderful event, I have a super-exciting announcement.... drum roll........

I have a third sponsor for Postcard from Sweden!!

Postcard From Sweden Parade of Quilts Link Up

It is HERE and it is as good as Christmas IMHO! Oh the eye candy on Instagram! The teaser posts, the artful shots, the sheer joyous colour out there! Much needed on these recent grey, gloomy, rainy, and in a lot of cases, snowy, days. We even had snow flurries from time to time here this morning and about 1/4" (yep, I know that measurement well) on the patio table and deck rails, like what??

The linkup is below, but first let's visit my most generous sponsors. (note that I am not affiliated with any of the sponsors, but I am an affiliate of Craftsy).  Sponsors! I never dreamed when Helen and I started talking about making this quilt together, and I said,
me: Maybe we could put it out there if any others want to join us?
Helen: Oh, that's a good idea!
me: We could host a QAL!
Helen: You're a good organizer; you can put out the word...

Postcard from Sweden Shines Again

My fourth Postcard from Sweden quilt is finished! 

This baby’s mine, all mine. 

My quilt and I went for a quilt in the wild shoot this morning at Seacliff Beach in Leamington which is a mere ten minute drive from my house. I am blessed to have this beautiful spot so near.

Postcard From Sweden Quilt Along

This is the introductory post for the 2022 Postcard From Sweden QAL. I'm so glad you are here. January in the Northern Hemisphere can be a tough slog, so I think it's a perfect time to lift our spirits by sewing something bright and simple. It's all half-square triangles in beautiful vibrant fabrics. Once again, I used Kelly's photo of the quilt as the background for the graphic.

First things first. Tracie of Riceford Streams messaged me way back at the end of September asking if I was considering hosting another QAL, since she had come across a kit for a good price, and had always wanted to make this, as she said, cheery quilt. She thought sewing with others would be a good incentive. I thought this a great idea, maybe something to make in the new year. Besides, I have a healthy stack of Kona cottons I seem to have amassed since that first QAL. Might as well use them! So I contacted Kelly Liddell in early December to ask her permission to host another quilt along. Her pattern is no longer available anywhere. If you have seen it for sale as a stand alone pattern, then do not purchase it, because whoever is selling it is a thief. This is Kelly's design, inspired by a postcard set she saw in IKEA by Tom Frazier. Her pattern was always free. If you would like to join in with the QAL and make this quilt you have a few options.

Postcard from Sweden Tips for Success

I, along with Helen of Midget Gem Quilts, recently hosted a QAL for making the absolutely gorgeous Postcard from Sweden quilt, a pattern I downloaded from Craftsy (free!!) shortly after I became a member. It is designed by the talented Kelly of Jeli Quilts. Here is my finished quilt back in April on the little stone bridge over Mill Creek which runs into Lake Erie:

Postcard Cushion

Sneaking in another finish that was on my Q1FAL List. This cushion cover is made from leftover HSTs from my Postcard from Sweden quilt. Cool: that finish post is April 20, almost exactly a year ago! I've had this top pieced for a couple months...

Postcard from Sweden QAL Step 1

It's here! It seems to have taken so long, and in other ways it seems to have got here so quickly!

Happy Valentine's Day to everyone, as we start this colourful quilt on a day of love and flowers, chocolate and wine, good food shared between loving people.

Announcements
1. I've made a page for the Postcard from Sweden Quilt Along. You can click here to see it or click the tab "Quilt Alongs". From there you will be taken to a page where you will find the two that I have hosted so far, Freefall, and now this one. If you click the name of the quilt, you will be taken to its separate page where all the posts are listed, and as they go live, I will update the links.

Wonderlust II Cushion

Every time I have walked into my sewing room since I made the Wonderlust I cushion (and that's every day, multiple times a day), I have seen Wonderlust II looking at me, waiting patiently. She started tapping her foot this past week at me, and so before I start my mini-love project for Island Batik, I thought I need to finish her. She wants to be by her big sister, hmm, or rather, her slightly older twin.

Postcard from Sweden Quilt Along Final Parade!

In some ways it seems forever ago (January) that I announced that I was going to host another PfS QAL and in other ways, I can't believe it's mid-March, the Ides of March... and time to show off our finishes!

Instagram has been lit up with a rainbow of gorgeousness. I know I've really been enjoying seeing everyone's progress. Be sure to check out the hashtag #postcardfromswedenqal2022 if you feel like brightening your day! Today is the day we show off our finished quilts (finished flimsies are welcome too) and today is the day to enter the drawing for some fabulous grand prizes.

DrEAMi #59

I am so glad I usually start the next DrEAMi post after the current linkup closes. It has been a while, hasn't it? I didn't do one in December because I was in Alberta for Christmas, and then the one that should have been published on Saturday, is only going out this evening because Dayna was finally here for a visit! Other than publishing the Postcard from Sweden post, it was all about her for the 2.5 days (and what, 11? workout shirts I hemmed and a sleep mask and pillowcase I fixed...) she was here. 

I did have a DrEAMi in December. I got a request from not one, but two of my yoga students to make a bag like mine for a loved one of theirs. Since I was off to Alberta on the 20th, I had to get pretty much right to work.

This is one of the two I made. You can read about them here or click the link in the Linky Party below!

The Yellow Month of March - RSC

I posted these finishes on Instagram earlier this week, but I like to keep track of my Rainbow Scrap Challenge progress on the blog too. My main project this year is making Kelly's My Quilt Infatuation hot air balloons from her book Scrappy Improv Quilting. Yellow was the colour for March, so here is the yellow balloon.

They are truly such fun to make and use up all of my small scraps that I keep in little baggies inside their scrap box of scraps about a fat quarter or less in size. I thought the scrap of Kaffe Fassett crisscross fabric made a great zing across the balloon!

Postcard Swap Blog Hop

Welcome to my stop on Patty's (Elm Street Quilts) Postcard Swap Blog Hop! There are 14 of us in the hop, so I hope you will make a little time this weekend to sit back with maybe an extra cup of coffee or tea and visit some of the fanTABulous postcards that were created.

The postcards were to be 4X6" and were to be mailed by March 17, no extras in them, keep it simple. What I didn't realize was that we weren't partnered up. I was given a name to make for, but she made for someone else, and my postcard came from a third person in the swap! Kind of like a Secret Santa exchange.  We got one word as a jumping-off point.  I gave 'water' as mine. It seems kind of odd, me being a Fire sign, Aries, but I have loved water, being in it, on it, by it, listening to it, gazing at it, my entire life, be it a river, a pond, a northern crystal lake, or the warm waters of the Gulf of Mexico, or the almost terrifying infinity of the Pacific or Atlantic. I know all those bodies of water well. Jen @hwksgirl who lives in Chicago, (just 4 hours' drive from me!) got my name. She made me this!

Dutch Garden Quilt OMG

My One Monthly Goal is done! I haven't met my goal in the past couple of months so I am really pleased that I finally have succeeded.

I had to get a photo of the top by the water. This is looking north on Bird Key. You can see Lido Key on the top left, and Sarasota on the top right. This is the intracoastal water, which is between the barrier islands, or keys and the mainland. This quilt is for my aunt's 80th birthday, which was, um, April last year. In 2016 I brought her and my mum here to Florida for a lovely week, so I think it most fitting that I finished assembling the top here in Florida!

I just love how it turned out. I agonized for a few days with rearranging the stars to evenly distribute all the prints and the colours. The border is a 1-yard kit that came with the original kit. I didn't make the pattern that the kit was for though, but one out of a Pam and Nicky Lintott book, Layer Cake, Jelly Roll & Charm Quilts. This was the kit:

I was pretty disappointed at first, because there was no indication that the yardage consisted of only one yard and 5 charm packs! However, this quilt pattern is perfect for it, and yielded a 54X72" quilt using just 4 of the charm packs and the yard for the border! Sweet! That extra charm pack will be a prize... You can still get this fabric, (affiliate link) though the kit I bought is no longer in stock. Hmm, I see there are no more charm packs, so I've got a rarity for a prize! Getting the quilt totally finished is one of my Q1 goals.

I made this quilt once before, as part of the Desire to Inspire Henry Glass Challenge back in June 2015, just slightly smaller, and without a border:

On the beach of Lake Erie

It's one of my favourite quilts.

So, that extra charm pack? It is destined as a prize in my #30quiltdesignschallenge I'm hosting on Instagram. There are also some sweet prizes from The Red Hen Shop and Clinton Modern Creative. Click the hashtag link for some pretty fabulous quilt designs! There are quite a few of us participating this year, and once again I am, and I think we all are, having fun, being pushed a little, and being amazed and inspired by the creativity in each of us.  Here is a little collage of three of my designs. The one in EQ8 (really liking this programme, no affiliation) is what evolved from a 'homework' quilt, playing with symmetry.

We have chatted about all the places that seem to inspire us with design; the yellow quilt just zipped into my head when I spied that well-known phrase on a billboard that week. Interestingly, the hexagon design of Feb. 19 gave me a 'frisson' of incredulity. No less than four of us played with hexagons on that day, unbeknownst to each other. Isn't that amazing? I know authors, poets, musicians, artists, speak of sometimes tapping into a stream of creativity where designs/works/words just flow, and they feel that they are just the vehicle. I fully believe in that, and perhaps this was a glimpse of tapping into that stream, just being in sync with each other.  Feel free to hop in anytime; the first draw for the first 10 designs, or however many you have come up with, is February 26.

Also not too late is joining in with my Postcard from Sweden quilt along.

My stack of 35 fabrics in colour order (Mulberry is missing, sigh), not 36, pointed out by Kathy, a reader and an observant one, just prior to cutting. I'm half way through the cutting.

There are some exceedingly sweet prizes available; click the link in my sidebar to check out the main post, or click on the Quilt Alongs tab at the top of this page. Kits are still available, with free shipping within each respective country of the shop's location. Please check out that Quilt Alongs tab for details. The following links will take you directly to the Postcard from Sweden kit at each shop:

Stitch Stash Diva
Mad About Patchwork (free shipping code: MMMQAL)
The Tartan Reel

If you love rainbow quilts, please visit Kelly's shop, Jeli Quilts. She is the designer of this FREE pattern, what a darling she is, to have it as a free download, and you will find she has a ton of rainbow quilts and blocks. 😍

Linking up
Sew Fresh Quilts
Quilt Fabrication
Elm Street Quilts

Postcard from Sweden Step 3

Here we are at about the halfway point! By now you should have paired and sewn all your HSTs together and trimmed them to size.  Or not.  Perhaps you are assembling the quilt as you go, either in rows, or in blocks of four.  I have done both, and think I prefer in blocks of four because of being able to spin seams when pressing and avoid lumps where eight triangles come together.

We interrupt this blog post to say, "GO Corbin Watson!" He's the goalie for Team Canada's hockey team in the Paralympics and is from Kingsville! They've won all three of their games so far and play again tomorrow. I'm so happy that the Paralympics is getting more attention these days; IMHO these athletes have more heart and determination than 'regular' athletes. 💖😍

Ideally, if this is the halfway point, I should have 10 of the 20 rows sewn together. Well, I have not quite half that amount...what a good example am I? I have been rather busy of late! Here is my progress so far and I am loving it:

Here are a couple of tips that I have discovered helpful:

1. I label the HST pairs with a fine tipped marker within the seam allowance.

This way when I press them, I don't have to worry about pressing painter's tape, or a self-adhesive label, or having it fall off. Trust me, I've done this on many many quilts over the past 20 years, marking within the seam allowance, with never an issue.

2. I press to the side, 'the dark side' to quote Angela Walters and Jenny Doan, lol, and this ensures all these seams nest beautifully. Pinning has been minimal. If you spin the seams, as in unpick a stitch or two within the seam allowance where the seams join, something Carrie Nelson (think Moda's blog and Schnibbles) is well-known for, then you can press them all in the same direction, and the bulk is reduced by half.

Love those cute teeny pinwheels that form!

Okay there's my HSTs sewn together step NOT complete, but I'm going to keep plugging away between my other projects, 😉 and eventually I will have a quilt top. Let's see what your stitched HSTs look like by linking up your quilt progress below.

For the Postcard from Sweden schedule, click here. Remember there is its own page under the tab Quilt Alongs at the top of my blog page.

An InLinkz Link-up

Postcard from Sweden Quilt Along

This is one of the first free patterns that I downloaded from the now-defunct Craftsy, a bright, cheery, geometric design that has your eye roving all over the quilt.

Postcard from Sweden designed and made by Kelly Liddle of Jeli Quilts - used with permission

Last year Myra at Busy Hands Quilts ran a quilt along to make this quilt, breaking up the construction process into steps over the course of several weeks, and presto! a finished quilt before you know it, fitted in amongst your other projects.  I wasn't able to participate last year, but a few of my friends and I were bemoaning that fact, and I said, "Well in a few months, let's do our own quilt along."

So we are.  I'm hosting. Helen of Midget Gem Quilts is in. Would you like to join? Absolutely no deadlines, just guidelines, and perhaps a draw for a prize at the end for finished quilts or tops, which might help get my butt in gear to get a couple more of my patterns published and in my Etsy shop, ha! More on that later; the main prize is you get that quilt made, right?

Here are the dates we've agreed upon:

• February 14 - Step 1: Gather your fabrics, cut your HSTs, and pair them.
• February 28 - Step 2: Make the HSTs; press and trim. Progress link up for HSTs step.
• March 14 - Step 3: Assemble top. Progress link up for sewing the HSTs.
• March 28 - Link Up for finished flimsy
• April 18 - finished quilts or tops parade. Final link up and draw for prizes!

Pretty low-key, right?

Hope you'll consider joining us!

Linking up
Cooking Up Quilts

Plus Playtime QAL Introductory Post and List of Sponsors

Woo hoo! It is here! As I said when I was emailing my lovely generous sponsors, it feels weird to write 'second annual QAL' when Freefall, the first one, doesn't seem to have happened that long ago!

Once more here is the quilt in its original fabrics as featured in Benartex's Modern By The Yard ezine! That link will take you to their blog where you can download your copy of the ezine which contains my pattern.

There's just something about seeing your own quilt professionally photographed...

And a straight-on shot on our fence:

Here is the schedule, which you can also find on the main landing page I've created. That main landing page has the links to all of the following steps to the QAL:

April 11: QAL Announcement Post
April 24: Introductory Post and List of Sponsors - you are here!
May 1: Step 1 - Fabric Requirements and Tips
May 8: Step 2 - Cutting
May 22: Step 3 - Row 1 Construction
May 29: Step 4 - Row 2 Construction
June 5: Step 5 - Row 3 Construction
July 5: Finished Quilt Parade Linky opens

If you are quilting along, please grab my button on my sidebar, which is coded thanks to my darling friend Tish. Shout-out to her if you aren't aware, because she is gearing up for her first Mystery Quilt! A long-time tester for Cheryl's mysteries at Meadow Mist Designs, she is now branching out to do her own. I've had a sneak peek, and I cannot WAIT to start this one, as it's a real beauty. Head to her blog (after you're done here of course) for details. Don't worry, you can handle this QAL and her mystery; mine is super-easy and hers is super-spread-out, what a combo. 😀 Like the two of us!

A note about the date of this post. I had it about half done when I ran out of steam last night. Started getting the coffee ready for the morning, and putting my yoga gear all together for the early morning class I attend in Windsor...bam! It hit me: today is April 24. This post was supposed to be published April 24.  Today (like last night) is/was Tuesday, April 24!! NOOOO.... One of the joys and oft-times annoyances of being retired and only working part-time, is that sometimes I get dates messed up. Days of the week? No. Easy, because of teaching yoga four times a week. Dates? Uh yeah, they go by too quickly, something my dad always used to comment about. 😔 So you aren't wrong when you read this and notice that, wait, the date is April 25; she said it's going to be posted the 24th... It's just my brain that short-circuited again...

Okay sponsors.

I am so very very grateful to my generous sponsors for this second annual QAL. I do hope you will check them out, and patronize their businesses when making either a pattern or fabric purchase for your next quilt. Two years ago there was a 'May is for Makers', where you do purchase something from a small business that you wish to support during the month of May. I wonder (hope) it happens again this year. There is such generosity in QBL, so once in awhile it is a good thing to show some of your faves a little $$ love to help them keep going. 😊

1. Benartex has a bundle of fat quarters of 'Wonderlust' by Paula Nadelstern going to one lucky winner who lives in the USA.

Wonderlust is what I am using for my adult rendition of Plus Playtime. Once again, here are the fabrics I am using:

Stitch Stash Diva

Stitch Stash Diva has been on Etsy since 2011. Tayva started the business as a way to gather all her 'fun and and bright fabrics in one location'. It is now a work-from-home business for both she and her husband, Joe! SSD is offering a $100 grand prize and two $25 part-way-through check-in points prizes!
You may recall that Tayva sponsored Helen's and my Postcard from Sweden QAL which ended last week. She found me, after a serious uptick in purchases for Postcard from Sweden kits, and I am so happy we have connected, so I hope you hop over and check out her store...there are some great deals with her moving shop, just sayin'...

Mad About Patchwork

Mad About Patchwork is located in Stittsville, Ontario. They are a bricks and mortar shop as well as as online shop. They also found me through the Postcard from Sweden QAL and I'm so happy they are back to sponsor this QAL of mine! They are offering a $50 grand prize for finished quilts. Great minds think alike: they, like SSD, suggested making up a kit!

You can find this colourful rainbow here.  Note that you will provide your own background fabrics (the large plus and the background).

Clinton Modern Creative 

Clinton Modern Creative, based in Saskatoon, Saskatchewan, has been an online store for about 9 months now. When Darla opened her store she felt there was "a need in the Canadian marketplace for more modern fabrics, patterns and supplies" and boy, has she delivered! She is curating two kits for this quilt! And here they are:

You can find this gorgeous bundle of 'Architectures' and 'Gleaned' here.

If you prefer this bright bundle of Alison Glass, check it out here!

Please note that I am not affiliated with any of these three quilt shops, just happy that they want to kit up a quilt that I designed. 😃

And this just in!! I don't know if you've been hopping along with The Great Canadian Shop Hop on Instagram, hosted by @handmade_habit, but wow, has it been both inspiring and eye-opening as to the wealth of shops we have here, both bricks and mortar and online. On their feature day, each shop has a percentage off coupon and many are hosting giveaways too. The two Canadian shops that have made kits for my QAL😍😍 have 10% off coupons which you can use when you order your kit! I'm not affiliated with either of them, just passing along savings to you, my readers, when I can!

**Clinton Modern Creative has 10% off your order from today through the end of Saturday with the code SHOPHOP. They are the shop with two kits to choose from.

**Mad About Patchwork is also offering 10% off orders from now until April 30 with the code GCHS10.


Canuck Quilter Designs

Joanne has been quilting since 2000, blogging since 2010 and designing most of that time!

Here are just two of her many wonderful designs. She is Canadian, but lives in Iowa and was in the direct path of the total eclipse last year. She created that incredible design to commemorate it. Starfall is her newest, just-released pattern. And, she may have a sale on it right now, just letting you know!
She is offering two PDF patterns of the winner's choice as a prize.

Cooking Up Quilts

Beth has been quilting for 15 years. She lives in West Virginia, where she is currently working, a lot more hours than she bargained for, at a quilt shop! She's been designing quilts since 2015 after pattern-testing for Cheryl of Meadow Mist Designs. She started blogging in 2014, and is currently one of four hosts for the New Quilt Bloggers Blog Hop. She is offering one winner their choice of two PDF patterns.

Devoted Quilter

Leanne has been quilting for 21 years; a wedding gift for a friend was her first quilt, hand appliquéd and hand-quilted!!  She started designing in 2014, and had her first design published in Make Modern in 2015! She once said to me that she had NO idea she'd be designing and publishing her own patterns, and be published in several magazines, when she first started quilting all those years ago! She lives in Newfoundland. She is offering the winner's choice of two PDF pattern downloads.

Meadow Mist Designs

Cheryl is offering two prizes: two PDF pattern downloads to each winner! Cheryl's day job is 'an engineer and patent agent for a private textile and chemical company.' She lives in South Carolina, and started blogging in 2013, not long after she'd started quilting! Like me, there are no quilters in her family. She is probably best known for her wonderful mystery quilts, and most recently published her first book, Modern Plus Sign Quilts, with Paige of Quilted Blooms. You may notice Cheryl is and has been an inspiration and mentor to several of my sponsors here, including me. 😇

Quilting Jetgirl

Yvonne is offering one winner a choice of two PDF pattern downloads! Yvonne lives in California, and her pre-quilting career was as an aerospace engineer. She has quilters in her family, and recently wrote about enjoying time spent back at her parents' house, sleeping under one of her grandma's quilts! My own grandma made exactly one quilt, red and black wool squares, tied, very heavy, always on the couch. Yvonne has been quilting since her teens, blogging, hmm, consistently, since 2014, but posts go a ways back before then (1996!!). She is known for her transparency quilt designs, and she is the Aurifil designer of the month for April! Another really interesting post for you to check out once you're done here.

Sew Fresh Quilts

When I asked Lorna if she would consider sponsoring my QAL, she immediately replied with a resounding, yes! and then she asked to feature me on her Let's Bee Social Linky party! Wow! I'd like to think it was little ol' me posting about the Plus Playtime QAL, that started the uptick in downloads of the ezine off the Sew In Love With Fabric blog, and I'm sure I did a little bit, but they informed me that all last week they noticed a pretty decent increase in downloads! So thank you Lorna. 🙏 Lorna started blogging in 2012, shortly after she started quilting! She lives in Ontario, and is known for her adorable animal quilts, and fun QALs.  She is offering one winner a choice of two PDF pattern downloads!

Tish N Wonderland

Huh? You may be thinking; that's not Tish's logo! Well, it's a hint for you. You may know that both Tish and her husband, Dave, quilt. They live in West Virginia. Both work full-time jobs, but quilt all they can in their spare time, and both attend their local guild, though David not as regularly due to job and time constraints. Tish has been quilting for 13 years, and blogging since 2015. She taught David to quilt a couple of years ago! David is the main designer, Tish the EQ implementer and pattern-writer. Both come from quilting families, and both are being featured separately, Tish next week, on Melva Loves Scraps 'Quilters Through the Generations'. Tish has already drawn Plus Playtime in EQ to play with her colour choices, and has graciously given me a copy to share with you for colouring purposes. You can download it here in my Craftsy store. (That's an affiliate link, but the page and all but one of my patterns there are free.) In case you haven't noticed, Tish and I are pretty close, having met in the New Quilt Bloggers Blog Hop in 2015, and we've gotten together a few times (never enough!) IRL. We both are cohosts of this year's hop.

moi aka mmm! quilts
I've been quilting since 1995, and blogging since 2013, when I quit my teaching job, and made a major move across Canada. I wanted to keep in touch with my friends and family who lived far away, as well as document my quilts, and occasionally muse, as in share some thoughts of life after 50. I started designing seriously a few years ago with Pocketful of Sunshine, free on Craftsy (see sidebar), which has been unbelievably popular and was featured once on Craftsy's free pattern Friday. I have run a #30quiltdesignschallenge on Instagram for two years now, which has really helped spark the designer in me. I'm offering two winners a copy of Blue Skies & Sunny Days, my one and only 'for $$' pattern, but I hope to have at least one or two more (they just need EQ diagrams!!) uploaded by this summer, so I'll up it to two PDF copies of the winner's choice.

I have two more sponsors just in!

Stitchin At Home

Cindy and I met in the NQBBH 2015. We live relatively close by North American standards: I am at the south end of Lake Erie and she's two hours northeast of me not far from its shore! She has been quilting for 25 years, and blogging since 2014. She started designing her own quilts in 2014 and has designed three BOMs for her guild. Last year she did a BOM on her blog; the patterns for all the blocks are still there.  As well as two new patterns releasing in May, she has a couple of upcoming publications in magazines! She is offering one winner a choice of two PDF patterns from her Craftsy shop.


All Points of the Compass
Jean writes a wonderful blog. She lives in New Zealand, and took part in last year's Freefall QAL. This year she wants to sponsor my QAL! Hugh makes beautiful wooden bowls, and she is offering one of them as a prize, along with this adorable frog to hold pencils and markers, to anyone quilting along in New Zealand!

Jean started blogging in 2011, when she started"Bags for Japan from New Zealand" by asking for bags to be sewn to be sent to the earthquake region in Japan. Her 'man' Hugh has made wooden items for years, she says. Her blog name comes from a dear friend who was in HMS in WWII.

Make Modern

The ladies at this great ezine said it so well, so here is a little bit about them right off their website:
"Make Modern started in 2014 as a collaboration of three Aussie quilters who built a close friendship through the online quilting community. Our magazine is written by a small team of passionate modern quilters in Australia with a huge team of amazing quilters from all over the globe who contribute patterns and articles."

Issues come out bi-monthly and contain articles and modern quilt patterns. You can purchase a subscription or a single copy here. There's a brand new issue coming out May 4! Make Modern is offering a 6-month subscription to one lucky winner.

Okay that's finally it! Thank you for reading through all that, but I wanted to give a little background and shout-out to each very much appreciated sponsor. 😍😘😘 I will be back on Tuesday, May 1, (promise!) with fabric requirements and some tips which you won't find in the ezine, so hope to see you next week! Watch this space for kit updates too.

Linking this up
Sew Fresh Quilts
Quilt Fabrication

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